Matthew Jonathan Wicks (born 8 September 1978) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Wicks was viewed as "one of the most promising players of his generation" but never lived up to the label.

Club career

Born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, Wicks began his career with youth contracts at both

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, but failed to make a league appearance for either team. After being released by Arsenal in 1998, Wicks signed for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, where he made six league appearances. Wicks later signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, making a total of 31 league appearances. While at Peterborough, Wicks spent a loan spell with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, and later signed for Brighton on a permanent deal. In his two spells at Brighton, he made 26 league appearances. After leaving Brighton, Wicks signed for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

, where he made 14 league appearances. After leaving Hull in July 2002, Wicks moved to Australia to play with the

Newcastle United Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Austral ...

, under the management of former

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

player

Ian Crook Ian Stuart Crook (born 18 January 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who began his career with Tottenham Hotspur. before making 418 appearances for Norwich City where he notabl ...

, but never appeared for the club. He was released from his contract in August 2003 on compassionate grounds because of the illness of a relative, and retired from football soon afterwards.

International career

Wicks was captain of the

England national under-17 football team The England national under-17 football team, also known as England under-17s or England U17(s), represents England in football at an under-17 age level and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. Th ...

Honours

;Peterborough United *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

playoffs:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Personal life

Wicks is the son of fellow footballer Steve Wicks and grandson of former

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

chairman

Brian Mears Joseph Brian Mears (25 April 1931 – 28 July 2009) was a chairman of Chelsea Football Club. He was the son of Joe Mears, also a chairman of Chelsea, and grandson of Joseph Mears, co-founder of the club. He was born in Richmond, Surrey, and educat ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wicks, Matthew 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Reading, Berkshire English footballers Association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Newcastle Jets FC players English Football League players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate soccer players in Australia Footballers from Berkshire